We examine regulation as a repeated game between a regulator and a utility facing a Markovian sequence of demands. Sunk capital would be expropriated by a regulator concerned only with the short-run interests of consumers. There exist rate of return regulatory policies supporting efficient...

A prominent feature of international trading relations since 1970 has been the spread of quantitative restrictions on imports. This paper describes initial work to quantify and assess the economic effects of such nontariff barriers (NTBs), taking as a case study the United Kingdom footwear...

In this paper we present an investigation of unemployment persistence in Japan, the United States and fourteen European economies. We concentrate on the sources of slow adjustment in the labour market, such as sluggishness in labour demand and persistence in the employment and wage targets of...

In many countries two decision-making institutions, the government and the central bank, manage fiscal and monetary policy separately. Such decentralization can lead to a change in the optimal inflation-output trade-off. In fact lack of cooperation can result in a change in the position of the...

The large dollar fluctuations of the last decade are often viewed as a classic example of a lack of macroeconomic coordination. This paper examines these fluctuations from a European perspective and suggests five conclusions. First, interdependence between Europe and the US is quite limited as...

This is an exercise in the positive economics of alternative monetary regimes. The behaviour of output and prices is compared using a stochastic specification which allows asymptotic variances to be obtained without difficulty. Free floating of exchange rates together with national money supply...

This paper evaluates the relative impact of range of health, economic and structural factors on the employment experience of older male workers in Britain in the 30 years since 1951. It is based on a cross sectional analysis of data on age of workforce in 34 industrial sectors drawn from the...

The paper analyzes the role of fiscal policy in the restoration of internal and external macroeconomic equilibrium and in achieving structural adjustment, i.e. major changes in the patterns of sectoral and intertemporal resource allocation. The focus is on developing and new industrial countries...

There is a considerable literature concerning the effects on labor mobility of imperfections in United Kingdom markets for rented housing (such as the 1987 book by Minford et al. and several articles by Hughes and McCormick). This paper examines the interaction of labor and housing markets,...

We analyse games between two countries which use the threat of imposing a tariff to induce each other to follow monetary policies equivalent to those that would obtain under a cooperative game. The analysis shows that -- under certain assumptions concerning the shares of tariff revenues, what...